6 Tips To Start Your Winter Bulk Off Right

Jon Anthony is a world renowned dating coach and the founder of Masculine Development, a website specifically dedicated to helping men improve their personal, dating, and financial lives. After years of training men how to attract women, build muscle, and make more money, Jon created the 7 Strategies Program to help kickstart your journey to dating success.

It’s no secret that it’s almost impossible to gain muscle while also staying lean at the same time. The fact of the matter is that if you want to gain a large amount of muscle, you must eat at a caloric surplus. In other words, you won’t be gaining large amounts of muscle without putting on a little bit of body fat.

This is why a lot of guys go through the bulking and cutting cycles. What they do is they eat large amounts of food while putting on some serious mass, which is the bulking component, for 4-6 months, sometimes longer. Then, around February or March, they go through a cutting cycle, where they eat less so that they slim down.

Each one has pros and cons. Bulking cycles get you really big, but you’re not as shredded. Cutting cycles get you looking lean, with a six pack, but you lose some muscle in return. Regardless, if you go through a bulking cycle and then decide to cut, you’ll still retain a lot of muscle mass.

This is why most guys opt to bulk during the winter—since you aren’t at the beach, being super lean won’t matter much anyway. Then, come February, they start a cutting cycle, and get down to around 8% body fat to look good during the summer.

So, with this in mind, here’s some tips to do your winter bulk the right way.

1. Break Your PR’s

Now is the time to go all out, gentlemen. It’s very difficult to break personal records on a cutting cycle, for the simple reason that you’re in a caloric deficit. When you’re in a caloric deficit, your body relies on breaking down fat for energy, which is fairly inefficient.

When you’re bulking, however, you don’t have to worry about this—you can stuff your face prior to lifting (assuming it’s with healthy, high quality food), and go all out. That’s why this is the time to break your deadlift, bench press, squat, and overhead press records.

2. Don’t Workout Abs

I know that a lot of guys might disagree with me here, but it’s the truth. There’s no point in working out your abs unless you’re going to be sub-10% bodyfat.

There’s an old bodybuilding saying that goes something like this: “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym,” and I wholeheartedly agree. If you’re not on a cutting diet, your abs aren’t going to show. Period. So why bother working them out?

“But won’t my abs get weak, Jon?” I can hear someone ask. No, they won’t. As long as you’re doing powerlifting exercises such as deadlifts and squats, you won’t need to worry about your abs atrophying.

See, when you do very heavy compound lifts, your abs act as an auxiliary muscle. In other words, they have to clench up tightly to support the enormous weight that you’re lifting. This in and of itself is enough to get a six pack if you have very low bodyfat. If you do this all winter, and then just throw in some ab exercises in April or May, you’ll be totally good to go.

3. Use Mass-Gaining Shakes

I want to be clear: you don’t need supplements. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. You do not need supplements. The bulk of your diet should be comprised of complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, sweet potatoes and rice, healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts, and quality proteins such as chicken breast, salmon, and grass-fed steak.

That being said, if you want to supplement your diet with, you guessed it, supplements, it will allow you to get that extra edge.

Using high quality whey protein is a phenomenal way to add in an extra 50 grams of protein a day, in addition to giving your muscles the well-deserved nutrients that they need.

I personally always use a whey protein shake with two bananas after my workouts. Bananas are high in potassium, which alleviates any muscle cramping I may have, and they’re fast digesting glucose. Whey protein is very quickly assimilated into the muscles, so it gets your muscles out of a catabolic state (a state of breakdown) and puts them into an anabolic state (a state of recovery).

4. Start Early, End Early

A lot of guys make the mistake of waiting until November or December to start their winter bulk; don’t do this. By the time that you start to actually put some weight on, it’ll be time to cut, and you’ll spend all of December and January freezing your ass off because you’re 10% bodyfat.

Instead, I recommend that you start bulking up for winter NOW. This is what I’ll be doing (once I finish physical therapy) and it’s what I recommend you do, too. Then, around February or March, start shredding fat. Cut back on the calories, drink lots of water, use pre-workouts that give you extra energy and boost testosterone, hit the sauna, and consider practicing intermittent fasting.

If you do this, not only will you break tons of personal records and put on slabs of muscle all throughout the holidays, but you’ll get lean and shredded just in time for beach season. And if you’ve ever done “beach game,” when you have a six pack, you’ll know it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

5. Get Plenty Of Sleep

For millions of years, winter was the season of sleeping. Our ancestors didn’t have artificial lights to keep them awake, so they naturally went to bed earlier and slept longer with the increase in darkness.

Despite the fact that we’ve used technology to artificially extend daytime, our bodies still yearn to follow the seasons. Use the winter as a time of reflection, which is what I plan on doing. The winter season should be a time of personal development.

It should be a time for you to sleep an extra hour or two each night, a time of intense introspection, reading, and meditation. You should use the Winter months to not only grow your body, but to grow your mind. Then, come spring, new life shall begin—start sleeping less (although still get 8-9 hours a night), focus more on growing your business and game, and eat less hearty foods (save those for the winter).

6. Eat Hearty Winter Foods

As I said, winter is the best time to eat hearty foods. This season-long resting period will allow you to regain your strength so that you can hit it hard come spring and summer.

Spend lots of time learning to become a better cook, because Lord knows that most women nowadays certainly won’t be of assistance in this area. Learn how to cook hearty meals, like thick, warm stews, with barley, oats, lamb chops, and vegetables.

Eat nice, warm vegetables like cooked squash, beets, onions, carrots, and cabbage. Eat fatty meats (my favorite) such as steaks, pork, wild caught salmon, and sardines in olive oil. Not only are the fats phenomenal for your testosterone levels, muscle-cell reparation, and brain-health, but they’re also a great way to get in some extra calories for your winter bulk.

If you can’t afford all of this, whether it’s because you’re a broke college student, or you spend all of your money on table service and hookers, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Just follow my guide on How to Bulk Up When You’re Broke as a Joke.

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Good idea.
PROTIP for all: do NOT buy garlic imported from China or “wild caught” salmon (read: farmed), or talapia. They are raised in sewage water with toxic waste and human excrements. And often pumped with dangerous hormones as well.

This is harder than one may think as China is the largest exporter of garlic in the world.

How do you prepare them? I have never found them edible. To me they taste like dirt. Strange because I love other root vegetables, but I have never been a turnip fan. Maybe I just need to prepare them right.

I make them in two basic ways. One is I peel and cube them and toss them under the roasting rack with olive oil butter salt and pepper when I am roasting a chicken and the other is to boil them, then put them through a mill or ricer, mix with butter salt and pepper and then whip them like mashed potatoes.

A hearty, day long simmering beef stew. Or my wife’s chicken noodle..stew (it’s not really a soup, way too thick), with home made noodles and chicken that sat in a crock pot and cooked slowly until the meat falls off the bone. Mmmmmmmm….

“I detest the Somalians. To the very last one. Mean, bitter, angry ungrateful lot of idiots.”

They are the perfect Trojan horse soldier to fulfill the elites agenda. I recently visited Minneapolis and was saddened to see how parts have become shitholes – in fact the state of Minnesota is being destroyed via bringing in garbage from shithole cultures that clash with American culture.

At this stage of the geopolitical game it is obvious that any governor of any state who is for immigration is on board with the globalists.

Everyone loves winter until that windchill gets worse than 30 under and the 25+ mph wind is whipping and you are tall stepping through more than 2 feet of snow. That’s when we find out if having four seasons is for you or Just something nice you think about.

Romans and greek weren’t big meat eaters like northern europeans. They were all about beans and grain. Roman soldiers ate a lot of grain makes sense since grain doesn’t get spoiled on long campaigns. Roman athletes and gladiators were all vegettarians

This sounds awful. What a regime! I just like to be lean and mostly I am, Eating high calorie foods just to look like a muscle man. No way. This type of exercise has zero enjoyment for me, I like some cardo and outside stuff like cycling and mountain walking,,,this other stuff for middle age men is just mad. Besides who wants to live between a gym and a butchers all the time.

“This is why most guys opt to bulk during the winter—since you aren’t at the beach, being super lean won’t matter much anyway. Then, come February, they start a cutting cycle, and get down to around 8% body fat to look good during the summer.”

8%? Good luck. Last time I was under 10% was early 2013. It was the worst feeling ever. Yeah, it felt nice at the beach but I felt weak and tired and headache and hungry all the fucking time. I’ll stick to 12-14 over the summer and 14-16 over the winter. Much happier

Since the whole point of cutting is to attract women (there’s really no reason otherwise), it should be noted that there are many women who prefer the 10% to 12% bodyfat aesthetic. They often get turned off by men who look like they work too hard at their physique.

I don’t know if that is the only point…I mean seeing what extremes you can push yourself to is a common theme for many guys.

I’m sure women have all sorts of taste but when I was under 10% I was reeling in women but couldn’t drink, couldn’t eat out, had so many restrictions it was insane. Maybe when I was 18-21 it would have been easier but I was 40 so 99% of my day was spent focused on this shit

” They often get turned off by men who look like they work too hard at their physique”

Good point. I think the roided out look on men is primarily an American trend. In east europe Roosh’s observations was that men being overly built up didn’t make women did not make the women swoon. I think it’s good to have a certain level of good physique, but going apeshit with being a complete meathead just to attract some second rate, STD riddled american female – I’ll pass.

For me personally it is way too much sugar (read the nutrition label) for the amount of protein. I would be much better served having a hard boiled egg or some tuna for the protein than the milk.

Some people say that there are other bad things like hormones and bad calorie ratios. Loads of stuff online. TBH I don’t know if it is true or not and my choice is based on the sugar which I avoid like the plague.

Raw milk.
Man. The shit we used to take for granted. The U.S. government doesn’t allow the retail sale of milk that isn’t cucked by USDA.
I’m glad I live in a rural area, where I can get raw milk if I really, really want the stuff from a local farm.

If you have the space that’s the way to go. I gladly shell out 8 and change a dozen for my eggs at the farmers market. When you see the color of a fresh chicken egg your first thought is “oh so what the fuck is that stuff I’ve been eating”

They also tend to not shut the fuck up. If you get 6 then you’ll have a small sewing circle on your hands. I have a female friend who’s an old woman – I call her my adopted mommy hen because that’s what she’s like. I don’t have any desire to fuck her but she does have many qualities and attributes you cannot find in young 20 something hotties today.

Milk is bad for lifters in that it promotes lactic acid development (the stuff that makes your muscles sore).

Eggs aren’t the best source of protein for bulking, but they are nutritionally dense foods. If you think about it, everything you need to make a baby chicken is in there, and we’re not that different on a cellular level. You should get a few into you every day.

Remember that the classic strongman diet was steak and eggs, not whey protein and chocolate milk. Strategize accordingly.

I think number one is a mistake. Going for one lift PRs is fun but it is for ego. If you are looking to bulk you shouldn’t be banging out sets in the 3-5 range followed by a bunch of sets of doubles for deadlifts.

My rule on squats is “if you can’t get the weight 4 reps below parallel than that is not your number.

Also, for bulk building do as many rest-pause sets.

As for weightgainers…so so. I would say to get the protein from whole food where possible. I have a jar of high quality protein powder than I drink as a desert if I get a sweet tooth or if I am hungry after my dinner and my nightly cottage cheese. It is really there for if I am still hungry after making my macros and calories at the end of the day to keep me from rummaging the fridge.

Arnold Press is great but focuses a lot on the Lat. I don’t like smith machines because they displace stabilizer muscles. Go ot a power rack and hit your Mil press with strict form and watch shoulders grow

Depends on the form… used to be called the Scott Press, and the unique way old Larry did it hits the middle and rear dents powerfully! Dumbells tilted downwards (thumb end) and motion over the middle 3/5 of the range continuously for some great time under load!

One other thing: I have mixed
feelings on gym gear. I am dead against lifting straps for deads unless you have a competition lift well north of 600 pounds.

Chalk is great but if your gym doesn’t allow it the liquid chalk isn’t bad.

As for a belt, I would say never wear you right belt when your target rep range is 5 or more. The belt gives help to your core when you lift. If you are lifting light enough to get 5 or more reps then take the belt off and build your core instead. Your numbers won’t be as impressive but your strength will

Never deadlift with straps or you could end up like I did and pinched a nerve. It does not hurt however I had pins and needles on the lateral of of left hand. And grip goes to shit too.
Major setback if you’re just starting a serious routine.

As a side note: I’m at the gym now. Since leaving the poosey paradise known as equinox for an old fashioned and gritty barbell club last month I’m finding my workouts take less time. Less rest between sets when there isn’t 5 squat racks and 5 dead lift stations populated by scantily clad 9’s

I go to a budget gym (dirt cheap) and I love the competition between tbe 20 odd serious dudes in there. Been hitting a gym in central a few times and spent more time eye fucking chicks. The place was full of IT dudes so it wasn’t like I had much competition.

Have Power Rack train at home now, but this time last year was still training in a full-on bodybuilders gym. On the few occasions poosey walked it, it usually walked straight back out again. The girls that did lift were there to lift. Yes, very productive workouts…

Some good points there but protein shakes are a scam, the science doesn’t show any benefit and whey protein is basically a byproduct of big milk. But it doesn’t matter, all the noobs reading flex magazine and the likes are gobbling these unhealthy shakes all day long.

Also, power lifting is the best way to fight seasonal depressive disorder for those of you who live in a northern latitude with intense winters. Here in North Dakota, suicide attempts skyrocket during winter. I’ve noticed of all the attempted cases that have come through the ER, a commonality was that none of the individuals exercised. Factor in garbage diet, anti-social habits, and reliance on prescriptions which create a perfect storm of debilitation. Exercise keeps your hormones in balance.

It’s certainly possible to gain muscle in a caloric deficit. It will just take more time. There’s a certain level of caloric intake (at about maintenance) that will help one gain muscle quicker, but a caloric excess, to the point of gaining body fat, won’t do it. By definition, those calories are being stored as fat, not used to “build muscle.” If the excess energy were necessary, it wouldn’t be stored.

Seems to me it’s a better idea to strip off the excess fat to see what you’re actually dealing with in terms of your physique, while trying to gain whatever muscle possible, then up the calories to around maintenance and go from there.

I noticed that also with me and my friend who were at some time not eating enough for gaining muscle mass (read: deficit) and we still got mass.

When you live with family, you cannot always have proper workout meals, sometimes finance situation affects lunch and lunch is then some sort of a soup with little meat in it, and such. Of course, then you cannot have proper daily protein intake. Also, I don’t have much money to spend on whey, its fairly expensive when you combine that with gym membership.

Currently I started again with lifting at home. I have about 70 kilos of weight to use and after that becomes too little I will go to the proper gym.

Great article here and very relevant. I’m just finishing a 12 week split where I lost almost 20 pounds while gaining some muscle (full body workouts all 4×10 reps). As we speak
I’m putting my numbers for the last 3 months into a spreadsheet so my trainer can write me a bulking plan. The cutting works well doing full body workouts, I barely ran at all. Whoever said you need to run to lose weight is a fucking idiot, sure I play sports did the occasional boot camp with running but the majority was 4×10 sets of compond movements (rack pulls, dl, bench, squat, front squat, incline bench, overhead press, push press etc). Diet facts are on point and will be following the same diet as well moving forward. If anyone is interested in the meal plan/12 week split I just lost 20 pounds on let me know I’ll email
To you (paid 100 bucks for it all).

“I know that a lot of guys might disagree with me here, but it’s the truth. There’s no point in working out your abs unless you’re going to be sub-10% bodyfat.

There’s an old bodybuilding saying that goes something like this: “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym,” and I wholeheartedly agree. If you’re not on a cutting diet, your abs aren’t going to show. Period. So why bother working them out?

“But won’t my abs get weak, Jon?” I can hear someone ask. No, they won’t. As long as you’re doing powerlifting exercises such as deadlifts and squats, you won’t need to worry about your abs atrophying.

See, when you do very heavy compound lifts, your abs act as an auxiliary muscle. In other words, they have to clench up tightly to support the enormous weight that you’re lifting. This in and of itself is enough to get a six pack if you have very low bodyfat. If you do this all winter, and then just throw in some ab exercises in April or May, you’ll be totally good to go.”http://www.philiphimself.com/compound-exercises-enough-abs/

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